After Charlemagne’s army invades Umayyad Spain (777), meeting
heavy resistance at Zaragoza, Frankish forces suffer a terrible
defeat at the hand of the Basques. Among those killed is Roland,
Charlemagne’s general. The episode will form the basis of several
poetic renderings in which Basques become Moors and Roland’s death
is seen as heroic. The most celebrated version of this tale is the
11th century La Chanson de Roland.

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Citation:
Editors. "Battle of Roncevaux".
The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 May 2009
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=6869, accessed 31 March 2015.]

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6869Battle of Roncevaux2Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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